


A New High Score

by Skye_Maxwell



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Awkward Romance, Confessions, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humorous Ending, One Shot, Post-Canon, Video & Computer Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 07:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20305777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Maxwell/pseuds/Skye_Maxwell
Summary: At Yusuke's request, Futaba teaches him how to play one of her favorite video games.





	A New High Score

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lod/gifts).

> This is to thank Lod for enabling my addictive gamer tendencies! ♥ This fic makes reference to a video game called _Puyo Puyo Tetris,_ and both Futaba’s and Yusuke’s voice actors are in it (Erica Lindbeck as Raffina and Matt Mercer as Ex). You don’t need to have played the game to read this, but it’s a very cute (VERY ADDICTIVE) little game with a ton of Persona voice actors!

After several strenuous weeks of coaching, Futaba had finally gotten Yusuke through the first part of the story mode in Puyo Puyo Tetris. 

It had all started one afternoon when he had come to the house to escort her to Akihabara, and she had been stuck in endurance mode trying to beat her own score. 

Having grown somewhat patient with Futaba’s antics, Yusuke had sat beside her on the floor and watched quietly, knowing not to interrupt when she was so focused on gaming. 

He seemed to actually be into the game at first, as far as she could tell from the occasional sideways glance, which was a bit of a surprise to her. It _ was _ more vibrant and animated than most of the games he’d seen her play, so she figured that’s what was drawing him in. Though at some point, he seemed to be watching her more than the screen, which was incredibly distracting. 

She didn’t even come close to beating her own score, throwing her controller down and groaning in defeat as her CPU opponent celebrated their victory by rubbing it in her pink-haired character’s face. 

Once she realized he had been sitting there waiting for almost an hour (gaming tended to completely eliminate her sense of time), she apologized profusely, but he interrupted her apologizing to ask question after question about the game. 

She was pretty much addicted to the game at this point, so she was more than happy to explain the general concept of the game as well as the various modes and the array of quirky playable characters to choose from. Then Yusuke, in all earnestness, asked her to teach him to play. 

Futaba had been floored by the request at first, but upon his insistence (and because she felt she owed him for waiting for her and for always escorting her places and for the myriad of favors he was always doing for her and for just being a surprisingly good friend over the past year), she agreed to it, saying they could save the trip to Akihabara for another day. 

She decided it would be best to start him on story mode, since the difficulty started low and gradually increased across the levels (and of course it would be ludicrous to start him on versus mode against her; even if she tried to hold back, her enthusiasm for the game and her gamer pride would take over and destroy him). 

The storyline was on the silly side and relatively lighthearted, but Yusuke was fully invested, especially when they got to the arc of a character named Ex. He was a guardian at the Edge of Reality, where he lived alone, eventually becoming too lonely and depressed to even perform his guardian duties properly. 

Yusuke actually teared up at Ex’s plight, apparently identifying with Ex’s dismal situation, and while Futaba could definitely relate too, she didn’t think she could handle having a devastated Yusuke on her hands. 

After that, Futaba had coached him extra hard so she could get him to Ex’s happy resolution as quickly as possible. While Yusuke was relieved by the resolution, it made him even more teary-eyed, citing how beautiful it was that Ex’s new friends had gone to such lengths to assure him he wouldn’t be alone anymore. 

And that’s how they had finally moved on to versus mode—Futaba _ had _ to distract him from all of his feelings. 

Futaba chose to play as her favorite pink-haired character, and Yusuke chose to play as Ex, unsurprisingly. It was a heated Puyo Puyo vs. Tetris battle, but Yusuke emerged victorious. 

“Aw man!” Futaba whined. “I guess I’m too good of a coach. I can’t believe you beat me!”

“Nor can I,” Yusuke said, setting his controller down on the carpet and staring at Futaba appraisingly. 

“What?” she asked, gripping her own controller and starting to feel paranoid under his scrutiny.

“You allowed me to win, did you not?” 

“Psh, _ me? _ Let _ you _ win? Th-that’s crazy, Inari! Why would I do that? Heh heh, heh…”

“That_ is _ the question…” 

“All right, Shakespeare. I demand a rematch!” Futaba insisted, picking up his controller and trying to force it back into his hands.

Yusuke shook his head, letting the controller tumble back to the floor. “Tell me why.” 

“Heh, pretty insistent, aren’t we, Backstreet Boy?” Futaba said with a cheesy smirk, but Yusuke didn’t give way to her impeccable humor at all, though in all fairness she should have known he wouldn’t get the reference. “Okay, fine! I let you win!” 

“Why?” he asked calmly, a complete contrast to her impending internal frenzy. 

“I don’t know! Well, I mean, I do know… It’s just, you seemed so sad about the whole Ex thing, and I thought winning might, like, be a good distraction, and, I dunno, make you happy!”

Yusuke looked puzzled. “You want me to be happy?”

“Wh—hey! Geez, is that so hard to believe?!” Futaba asked indignantly, feeling a blush coming on for some reason. “Friends want their friends to be happy, Inari! It’s not that weird! That wasn’t even the whole reason, sheesh…”

“Then what is the whole reason?”

“Shoot, I wasn’t supposed to say that,” Futaba mumbled. “Look, I just didn’t want you to get discouraged about losing to me after you worked so hard to get better. And… I don’t want you to stop playing with me just because I’m unbeatable.”

A warm, amused grin came over Yusuke’s face. “Unbeatable, hm? That seems like a hypothesis that needs to be tested. That settles it; I must continue to play against you until I can genuinely best you.”

“What? Come on, Inari, that’s impossible! We’ll have to play together forever!” 

“All right then,” Yusuke deadpanned, making Futaba’s head spin. 

“S-seriously? You’re really willing to play this game with me _ forever?” _

Looking off into the distance, Yusuke said quietly, “If we have a reason to be together forever, then there’s no way I’ll end up alone at the edge of the universe.”

Futaba’s controller fell from her hands as she reflexively scooted away from Yusuke. 

“D-don’t say things like that unless you mean them, Yusuke! Sh-sheesh!” 

“But I didn’t say anything I didn’t mean.” 

“Okay, but the implications…” Futaba started, but then she sighed, knowing the implications were completely over Yusuke’s head. “Look, I’ll always be your friend, and so will everyone else, so don’t worry about being alone at the edge of the universe, okay? But you and I, we can’t _ literally _ be together forever.”

Yusuke frowned at her, and Futaba suddenly got the sense that maybe the implications weren’t _ completely _ over his head. 

His gaze was piercing, but he remained silent, causing Futaba’s blood to roar in her ears. 

She tried to laugh it off, but the sound just came out thin and shaky. 

“I mean, the only way to do that… would be to get married or something _ crazy _ like that!”

“Okay.”

“WHAT?! T-take that back! You can’t seriously mean that!” Futaba cried, pitching forward with her hands clasped protectively over her heart. “You’re gonna give me a heart attack!” 

“Do you need to be transported to a hospital?”

“No! This is… this is _ not _ how relationships work. Uh, n-not that I would really know, not firsthand anyway,” Futaba rambled nervously. “I _ have _ watched a lot of anime, but real life is different probably…” 

“How do they work, then?” Yusuke asked earnestly, looking just as eager to learn as he had when he first expressed an interest in learning how to play Puyo Puyo Tetris.

“You don’t really expect me to take the lead on this, do you? What even_ is _ this?” 

_ “It _ is a relationship, is it not?”

“Just to clarify… the type of relationship you’re referring to is a romantic relationship, right? Like a coupley, girlfriend-boyfriend, go-on-dates kinda deal?”

“I believe that is the type, yes.”

“And you’re saying you want _ that_… with me?” she asked, pointing to herself. 

“Yes,” Yusuke confirmed with a thoughtful nod. “But I am also not quite sure how this works, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated.” 

“Well, first of all, you’ve gotta tell me how you feel about me and convince me that you mean it, because I’m not really buying this, Inari! This came out of nowhere!” Futaba asserted, flailing around gracelessly. “Oh god, I can’t breathe. G-get out!”

Futaba jumped to her feet and then tugged at Yusuke’s arm until he got up too. 

“Did I do something to offend you?”

“N-no, not really! Just give me some space for a minute!” she pleaded, pushing him out the door and slamming it behind him. 

She then sank to the ground, her side slumping helplessly against the back of the door. She tried to focus on breathing deeply, even as she listened to what sounded like Yusuke sitting down on the other side of the door. 

After she had a moment to calm down, she said through the crack in the door, “I’m sorry, Inari. I didn’t mean to freak out like that.” 

“Do you know why I desired to play this video game of yours?” he asked.

“Um, I don’t know,” she replied to the sudden question. “Because it looked colorful and had some funky character designs that caught your eye?”

“While I did find those factors intriguing, I became interested in the game because _ you _ were so immersed in it. It captured your full attention, and, selfishly, I desired to be a part of that; I wanted to participate in your joy. I wanted to gain skill from your expertise, mostly so I could spend as much concentrated time as possible with you in order to do so. I wanted, and continue to want, to become closer to you, both figuratively and literally.”

“Figuratively… and literally?” Futaba squeaked, feeling like her eyeballs were about to bug out of her head and touch the thick lenses of her glasses. 

“Yes,” Yusuke said simply, igniting a frantic mixture of guilt, fear, and excitement in Futaba.

She got on her knees and backed away from the door, and then she pulled it open, revealing Yusuke casually sitting cross-legged in her hallway. 

“Sorry. Shutting people out is an old habit, I guess. Figuratively and literally,” she said, moving to kneel in front of him. “But… I don’t want to be alone at the edge of the universe either. I, um, wanna be close to you too.”

A light blush appeared on Yusuke’s cheeks, the first clearly visible sign to accompany the feelings he had just expressed.

Yusuke said, “Forgive me if I am incorrect, but I believe this is a common gesture in relationships.”

He reached out and took her hand in his, the touch literally shocking her (her room was admittedly very staticky). His skin was a little clammy, but his touch was gentle, tender even. 

“Holy crap! You really _ do _ like me!” Futaba said, accidentally clutching his hand too tightly.

“This feeling…” Yusuke said, staring at their hands. “I _ must _paint it.” 

He pulled his hand away and started to get up, but she quickly reached out and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him to herself.

“Hold on!” she said frantically, holding him close but also not sure where this moment of boldness was coming from. Staring at the wall behind him, she said softly, “Hold on. I need you to hear something. I’ve had a lot of fun with you lately, playing games and going places and, you know, everything. I’m _ glad _ you feel the way you do. I think I’m more surprised than anything, so it’s hard to show how happy I am, but just know that I’m happy, okay?” 

“Okay,” he agreed, and while she could hear the smile in his voice and feel the pounding of his heart, she couldn’t quite muster the courage to look him in the eyes again, not yet. 

“Inar— er, Yusuke… I want to ‘participate in your joy’ too.”

He responded by delicately wrapping his arms around her small frame and saying, “Then by all means, please do. You are the cause of so much of my joy, after all.” 

“How… How dare you…” she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and balling her hands into fists. “Who gave you permission to be… _ charming? _ You’re _ you! _ What is _ happening?!” _

“You found that charming, did you?” Yusuke asked with a delighted chuckle. “This is a most intriguing development.”

“D-don’t sound proud of yourself, you weirdo!” Futaba stuttered, pulling back and whacking a very happy-looking Yusuke on the arm. 

“What are you kids doing on the floor?” Sojiro asked, his deep voice thundering down the hallway. 

Looking up at Sojiro as he approached, Yusuke stated, “We’re doing relationship things.”

“Relationship…_ things?” _ Sojiro asked, his expression immediately going dark. 

“N-not like that!” Futaba cried, but Sojiro already was wrenching Yusuke up off the ground. 

“Let’s go, Yusuke.”

“I do enjoy your company,” Yusuke told Sojiro, letting himself be pulled away from Futaba. “But perhaps you could loosen your grip a bit?” 

“Close your door, Futaba,” Sojiro growled over his shoulder. 

“Wait! Sojiro!” Futaba called after them. “Wh-what are you gonna do to him?”

“Don’t worry,” Sojiro answered. “I’m just gonna ask him a few questions about his _ intentions.” _

“My intentions?” Yusuke asked, seemingly unfazed by all of this. “I intend to marry Futaba.”

Sojiro looked like he was going to explode, both figuratively and literally. “What the _ hell _ did you just say?!” 

“Inari, just shut up!” Futaba pleaded. “Please! You’re making it worse!” 

“Making what worse?” he asked, casting one final glance toward her before Sojiro dragged him into the living room. 

“Close your door!” Sojiro roared.

Alone now on the floor, Futaba said despondently, “Well, I _ had _ a boyfriend for about two minutes…” 

But then she brightened up as she realized something very exciting: “Whoa, two minutes! That’s a new high score!”


End file.
